An Italian ex-militant wanted for murder in his home country was sentenced in Brazil on Friday to two years in prison for passport fraud, sparking an extradition row days ahead of a visit by Italy's prime minister.

No agenda has been set for Silvio Berlusconi's visit here next Tuesday, but Rome's stalled extradition request for Cesare Battisti will likely figure in discussions with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

A former leftist militant convicted in absentia by Italy for four murders in the 1970s, Battisti's extradition was authorized by Brazil's Supreme Court in November, but the final decision was left up to Lula.

Battisti was convicted of falsifying a passport on February 25 and Friday's sentence handed down by a Brazilian judge complicates his extradition proceedings: he could serve his two years either in Italy or Brazil, depending on Lula's decision.

Battisti could also be allowed to go free it the courts take into account the two years he has already served behind bars since his arrest in 2007 at Italy's request.

A former member of the radical militant group Armed Proletarians for Communism, Battisti has been a fugitive since 1981, first hiding out in France, where he developed a new career as a successful crime novelist until laws giving him sanctuary were changed.

In 2004, he arrived in Brazil, where he was arrested three years later.

Lula's leftwing government gave him political refugee status, accepting he faced persecution at home, but that was overturned by Brazil's supreme court last November.

Lula has yet to announce his decision on Italy's extradition request.

- AFP